


A Harsh Reunion

by yetanothergreyjedi



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Fate of the Jedi Series - Aaron Allston & Troy Denning & Christie Golden
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-17
Updated: 2018-10-04
Packaged: 2019-07-13 15:17:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16020587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yetanothergreyjedi/pseuds/yetanothergreyjedi
Summary: Ben has been hunting the woman who betrayed him, his family and the Jedi order. Today, he finds her.





	1. Chapter 1

His hunt was over. She could feel his presence climbing the dusty stairs of the abandoned office building. She’d known that he’d find her and it was not the first world he chased her to. This time however, she would not run. 

He ascended quickly, the anger in his aura was all too clear, it bordered on rage. It didn’t matter that she did not want to fight him. She was done running and she could not hide forever. So as much as it pained her, she armed herself as heavily as she could without impeding her movements.  
This is the day she dreaded since she first chose not to walk towards the light. This day she will battle an old lover. It is the day she will shatter her heart into a thousand tiny pieces. Her path is set, she must take it now. She shoved down all reluctance and all love that was once necessary to show, she tried to pretend that she did not hate this moment. False bravado, false pride, false conference in victory, and a lie that would lead the people of Kesh to again speak her name, these were her mantra and armor.

The blue blade cut through the door, it was unlocked but the Jedi did not try. The darkness concealed her. The office chairs and desks and cubicles would provide ample cover— if she were hiding. Instead she stood, waiting for him to make his move, when he pointed his blade at her chest from across the room.  
“Surrender.” He demanded, almost growled. There was no sincerity in his voice: the words only a reflex.  
“No, Ben, I won’t be a still target.”

He moved quickly, in front of her in a second, throwing a blow would’ve cut her in two. She deflected it, both blades cutting into a cubicle wall, sending rectangles of flaming foam to the ground. As he regained his balance she lifted one and smashed it over his head. Blades thrust, parried and clashed. The abandoned scene quickly became one of rubble. He threw her with the force, she crashed and tumbled over desks and slammed through drywall. It’s support beams groaning as her body made contact. A moment's hesitation, a role and a blue blur, her hair was halved in length— the braid’s scorched ends came loose from their hold.

Cornered, she sent a thin knife forward from her belt, using the force to target. He blocked it, buying precious time, she returned to her feet, and pressed her own attack before he could recover. 

He caught her blade with his and the rhythm of their battle resumed. The buzzes, cracks, and fizzes of sabers, the roar of flames and clatter of Force-thrown objects went unheard, the potential listeners noting only the hisses and grunts of pain. The Sith’s spare weapons were rendered useless, one after another. As her few advantages were cut through by a plasma blade, the fight began to favor the Jedi. Her skill in swordsmanship had grown greatly and it was not her downfall. She had never seen him fight like this. The darkside coursed through him, strengthening his blows, adding speed to his steps, she knew the advantages well. It was when his blade stuck close, this time grazing her arm from shoulder to elbow, that she realized she might not survive this.


	2. Chapter 2

Another nearly failed defense and it became time for drastic measures. Her goal changed, her strikes angled, and her movements were made to push him in a single direction. He remained unaware of her plot, and step by step they neared closer. 

The floor was weaker on this side of the building, she’d been avoiding it intentionally, but now there was little choice. Their blades locked, and she kicked at his legs. He moved too soon, and she fell towards him, but managed to regain her balance on his other side; the side she’d been herding him towards. He sensed her fear and recognized the trap, he Force-shoved her towards it. Only she was ready, catching the blow with her own, locking them in a battle of unseen energy. But warring Force push to Force push with a Skywalker is rarely anything but a fool’s errand, she was thrown back, hitting the floor with the perfect force to shatter it’s supports.

Her vision became a blur, smudged debris fell with her. Her danger sense surged and by some unknown instinct, she reached out her hand. She caught quickly onto the sharp metal rebar as her arm was nearly ripped out of socket— but, she was no longer falling. 

It took more effort than she’d admit to pull herself upward with the metal cutting into her fingertips. She hissed as she placed her forearm onto the floor itself, attempting to pull herself up the rest of the way. She could see her would-be salvation now, and her heart dropped. Two lightsabers pointed straight at her throat, the Jedi’s blue and her own.

She’d show no bravado, after all she wanted to live, but she had too much pride to beg. And in a way, it was almost funny, she would turn Ben to the darkness at the one price she was unwilling to pay. 

Her arms ached and his sabers burned close enough to blister her skin, she couldn’t move forward, couldn’t save herself.  
“Ben?” It was barely a whisper, barely heard over the humming blades. It wasn’t simply a name, it was a plea to the Ben she knew, the Ben she loved. All she could do was pray that he still existed. The blades moved away fraction, the slight difference between searing heat and warmth, still uncomfortable.  
“Did you even feel anything?” His words were trap, whether planned or not. A lie, even if she’d tell one, would bring a quick death. The truth, the truth would be taken as the words of a desperate girl trying not to die, and nothing more. Fate spared her from answering. Danger surged around her, with every bit of energy she had left she pushed out in the force, blasting him away from the now growing hole, and fell.

Almost immediately she crashed into the floor below. At the impact and the strain of the debris before, it caved as well. Twenty three, why had she chosen the twenty third floor. For as much as they slowed her decent they added their weight to the next impact. Falling, crack, peace then pain, her focus was shattered with each floor. She refused take the second’s recovery and instead took the time to push the more dangerous of debris away with the force. Hit after hit after hit, she gave up on it, and simply used her bloodied arms to shield her face.

The ground was unyielding duracrete. It’s impact seemed to be the others combined, but the Force was with her and by its granted miracle she summon the strength to shield herself from the rest of the falling materials. That, however, was the only miracle it would offer. 

Her whole body ached, and her leg was twisted at an angle no limb should be, but the freezing rusted bar sticking straight through her abdomen was the true curse. Disbelief washed over her, as her blood pooled around it. She survived so much only to be felled by a piece of rebar, and her will to fight was gone. Even the slightest movement sent torturous shrills down her body, with injuries she didn’t know she had. It became harder to breathe, each attempt sending a new type of sickening agony. It was easier to breathe less. The tower of angry floorboard-toothed maws looked down at her, with every blink becoming less clear until everything faded black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter three will be up before the 26th. Thank you for your patience.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to everyone who has commented and contributed to the writing process; writers block almost killed this fic.

His head snapped against against the wall. The throw had come out of nowhere and he quickly raised both blades to find… nothing. Now alert for potential traps, he moved back to the hole she’d been dangling from. Both the Force and the echoes of crashing material gave her away, at the bottom of the abyss. He was not about to let her escape, but the groaning floor beneath him was enough to make him think twice about the route of his decent. He went down the way he came.

Why isn’t she running. Was the thought that pierced him. She always ran, and it wasn’t as if she could win. Now, she was waiting in some poorly crafted trap. He knew where she was, she wasn’t even hiding her Force presence all the way. 

His foot hit the ground on the bottom floor and he took a breath, he’d be ready for whatever she has in store. He stepped out into the open, moving towards her location, nothing. He climbed the rubble, crackles of breaking glass ruined his silent approach, and still nothing. He was meters away and she did not move. Finally within sight of her, and he dropped the lightsabers with a clang.

Vestara laid in a bed of fragmented plaster, glass, tile, and other materials obscured by flowing blood. The bone was sticking through her left leg and glistening crimson spike through her stomach glared at him, accusing. Instinctively, he reached for a medpack that wasn’t there, feeling sick.

Ben cautiously moved forward, more rubble crunching under his feet. There was no part of her unscathed and guilt ran through him. I did this. He tries to find excuses, to blame it on her or tell himself she deserved it. She was dying and there wasn’t much to be done. He’d told himself that he wanted her dead, but now… now watching her struggle for breath he wasn’t so sure. The thought that he could just leave her there, pretend it never happened crossed his mind. He shook his head, pushing it away. There wasn’t enough time to get help and he couldn’t leave her. Not like this.

He knelt beside her, and didn’t feel the glass poking through his skin at the motion. He did feel her warm blood seep through his trousers. A lump formed in his throat as he studied her scratched face.

“What have I done?” His whisper cut the silence. Shakily, he took her damaged hand and pressed it to his lips. He didn’t know how long he sat there, his eyes squeezed shut and his sobs grew louder. “I’m sorry,”

She couldn’t hear him, he was sure but It didn’t matter. He apologized again and again. It did nothing. Why would it? 

Feeling defeated, he reached out with the force. It didn’t surprise him that the energies around him were not of the light. Despite what he’d told himself, he hadn’t been using the light for some time. Whether out of some form of hope, or a need for redemption he didn’t know. He poured everything he had left into the Force’s Light trying to find it, to return to it. It was exhausting and painful but both in a good way. A second and an eternity later, he was startled out of his trance by the sound of a weak but stronger breath. 

He opened his eyes. Her scratches were slightly lessened, and some color returned to her face. Ben knew what he had to do.


	4. Chapter 4

Vestara had never been more surprised to open her eyes and the glaring glow rods only added to her confusion. It was a medical center, that much was for certain, but it was too small and lacked the noise and bustle of a standard hospital. No, it was too small to be a center, it was a medbay. To her relief, there were no cuffs, no form of restraints, and no one in the room.  
It was a distant haze, the day before, it couldn’t be a day? It all came back— the battle with her former love, the fall, her certain death— yet here she was. She prepared herself to sit up, it wouldn’t feel good but considering she’d had a piece of rebar sticking through her it could be worse.  
The action came with a surprisingly lack of pain, in fact a quick scan of her arms told her that most her injuries had vanished. Her leg was straight, bent only at places a leg was supposed to bend. A moment’s pause and she hefted the edge of her shirt to see that the worst of her wounds had faded to a red blotch on her skin. 

It wasn’t a bacta tank, she was certain, it couldn’t have been. She was still wearing the same clothes; dirty and bloodstained. She moved to see her reflection in the glass of the cabinet, she was still smeared with dirt, though it looked as if someone had attempted to wipe it off her face and arms. Her hair— her hair was a tangled ratted mess, but the burnt edges had been neatly snipped off. It was if someone had wanted to clean her up, but was unsure of what boundaries they should cross. 

There was a set of fresh clothing on a side table, sitting underneath her lightsaber. A reminder she hadn’t truly escaped, he hadn’t gotten his revenge yet. No, something in the Force told her that was wrong, but how? She dressed quickly, clipping the blade into place and tossing the bloodied clothing into the trash. On second thought, she unclipped the blade and held it carefully as she slipped out of the medbay. She didn’t reach out in the Force, if he was still close it would only help him find her.

The vessel appeared empty, but she still crept quietly through its halls, looking for an exit. Only instead to find herself staring at the ship’s occupant. Ben Skywalker sat staring blankly at the wall. She jumped back, finger on the blades activation switch, waiting. He didn’t seem to notice her, his eyes fixed ahead, until the silence broke.

“You can go.” He sounded defeated, but she didn’t move. Part of her thought it was a trap, part of her knew it wasn’t, but something wasn’t right. Scratches she’d given him were scabbed over, things that should’ve healed in the time it would take for a shattered leg and a speared through abdomen to heal, weren’t.

Her voice was to shaky but she had to ask, “How long has it been?” 

He didn’t move, “You slept for a day.”

Vestara didn’t really believe him, but he told the truth. “You said I could go.”

“I won’t stop you.” She didn’t wait for him to change his mind, rushing past him to the vessels door and froze. “Ben?”

He looked up, staring at her with vacant eyes.

“You asked if I ever felt anything…” she looked into his eyes, “I loved you.”

She was gone before he could respond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it. An almost four years WIP finished... (I took about a years break then realized I'd improved too much too and it could only be finished if I wrote everything...lol) Please tell me your thoughts and if you see something that doesn't make sense feel free to call me out. Oh, and thanks for reading!


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